A List of Lists of Books Recommended by Famous (and Somewhat Famous) People

Introduction

In 2011 I wrote a list of lists of books and it has remained a perennial favorite till the present. I figured it was time to revisit the list. The revamped list has expanded far beyond the original and as such needs to be broken down into sections. This section consists of lists of books recommended by famous (or semi-famous) individuals.

If you know of other recommended reading lists written by the famous, let me know and I just may add them to this article and give you a little hat tip (HT).

Thanks to Margaret Mackey for assisting with the research for this post.

This is the first in a series of lists of lists. Follow the blog to receive updates as each new post is released. You can follow the blog by entering your email on the left or by liking the Facebook page or by following the Twitter account. Or by my favorite method, subscribing to the RSS feed.

Osama Bin Laden

Bin Laden was a serious reader – of serious literature. Check out this fascinating list that includes titles such as Checking Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions, Christianity and Islam in Spain 756-1031 A.D., Handbook of International Law, and Obama’s Wars. It seems Bin Laden took seriously the adage to know one’s enemy.

David Bowie

All but two of Bowie’s recommended books were published during his lifetime, and the two that weren’t were published within 2 years of his birth. They span a wide variety of topics, from poetry to fiction to history.

Clifton Fadiman (and John S. Major)

American intellectual, author, editor and radio and television personality Clifton Fadiman gives us his “lifetime reading plan.” The original was authored solely by Clifton, but this later edition was co-written with John S. Major.

Barack Obama

Leo Tolstoy

Tolstoy himself penned this list of recommended reading. He divided his recommendations into age groups, from childhood to age 63, and then further subdivided the list into books recommended as “great”, “very great”, and “enormous.”